Coverage of the Ryder Cup and the PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoffs helped the Golf Channel record its most watched September in 17 years of broadcasting golf 24 hours a day and made it the fourth quarter in a row of record audiences.
Additionally in the seven quarters since becoming part of the NBC Sports Group in January of 2011 viewership is up 31% compared with the prior seven quarters and GolfChannel.com is setting records as well.
So, things are going well for the Orlando-based network.
In a prepared statement President Mike McCarley said, “These business milestones are the product of fantastic golf that resulted in some of the most intense drama the game has ever seen. Years of planning and hard work by the Golf Channel and NBC Sports team went into capturing this drama in more compelling ways than ever before including live golf coverage, news, specials and documentaries.”
Now available to over 120 million homes worldwide The Golf Channel was started by Joe Gibbs and Arnold Palmer in 1995. In 2007 signed a 15-year agreement with the PGA Tour giving viewers access to coverage of all the Tour’s events. In 2000 Comcast, one of the startup investors, bought controlling interest and upon their purchase of NBC at the beginning of 2011 was able to combine Golf Channel and NBC Golf coverage under a single brand.
